Next Contestant
by DrumtasticJack
Summary: Over a thousand years into the future, we can finally time travel, but only the government has control over it. So they decide to set up a game show. Four teens set out to assassinate historical figures that led to what we call modern day.
1. Prologue

Even one hundred years into the future, no one was equal. There was still the rich, the poor. There were still racist human beings, and not everyone understood them. Sure, the world had been advanced technologically, but had we advanced as human beings? The answer was no. Flying cars? Nope. The government decided it was too dangerous. We couldn't control traffic in the air as well as they could control it on the ground. Really, the only difference was, everything was touch screen, hand held, or both now. We didn't understand why everyone gushed over it. Oh, but there was one thing we had gotten far with. Time travel, and it was America's pride. They had finally out done the Chinese in something.

They hadn't necessarily figured out how to use any of it until now. They were too afraid of messing with the time line to try. But they thought of something fast. They had created a television show that sent us into the past to assassinate the historical figures that needed to be killed. They figured out that if we only killed the people that were destined to die, and we did it correctly, nothing would be changed. We would be safe.

It wasn't just killing, though. We were plucked out of our home century. The twenty-first century. We didn't know how to kill, well, some more than others. We were just kids, though. Seventeen, and eighteen year olds. Four of us, that was all they needed, four kids, two boys and two girls. One on each team. We suppose they were aiming for romance, but who knows. The government had always been crazy. But, weren't we all just slaves of their entertainment?


	2. Meet and Greets

Lily Burnham

I could tell that there were four of us, including myself. At first I thought I was going to be done away with by the men who captured me, but they knocked me out, and didn't really touch me. The next thing I know, I woke up in the arms of a boy, about eighteen or so. He had brown hair with lighter brown streaked into it. He reminded me of one of those scene kids, with his blink-182 band shirt and his tight black skinny jeans. He had deep brown eyes that seemed endless, and his skin was slightly pale.

I threw myself from his arms to my feet, only to stumble and fall to my knees. "Wh-where are we?"

A girl who seemed my age, seventeen, stepped up. She had platinum blond, lower back length hair, with a rare shade of green eyes. Her eyes seemed the change colors, grey, blue, yellow. She had pale flesh, and she had more curves than the average girl. There was a grim look on her face as she pulled me to my feet. "Welcome to New York City, United States. May 14th, 3015." 3015? There was no way we were over a thousand years in the future. It just wasn't possible.

I flat out laughed at her. "What have you been smoking?"

Her look quickly became icy as she dropped my hand. "Believe it or not. But I hope you're ready when they come for you." Her voice was smooth, she looked like she had been here a while, but who could tell?

How long had I been here? I glanced the girl. She was wearing a red shirt that swooped low, it took me a second to realize she was wearing a dolled up version of a band shirt. KISS, it said, with the band members designed onto the shirt. She wore black jeans that contained several holes in them, but she walked away next to the guy she had originally been standing next to.

He had long brown hair, and eyes the color of amber. His face was angular, compared to her heart-shaped face. His skin was tanned, like he spent a lot of his time in the sun. He was wearing jeans and a white hoodie, as far as I could tell. He seemed to be another eighteen-year-old, but there didn't seem to be anything abnormal about him. We all looked like we were from the same time . . . so I was starting to think this was some sick and twisted joke.

"What's your name?" I asked, my voice soft.

"Luella de Ariete." she said, her voice picking up a slight Latin or Italian accent.

Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I could almost feel the metallic click. That name was strangely familiar. "You're that drummer girl from North Carolina that went missing without a trace. Your family has been all over the news worried sick about you."

A look of sadness seized her features momentarily. "You think I can help that? I didn't run away, I was kidnapped, just like you were, girl."

"My name is Lily Burnham." I said quietly, shrinking back as Luella circled me, examining me.

She gave a laugh, almost as if she were disgusted with someone, or herself. "Lily, the meaning of beauty, innocence, and purity. They're going to taint you, Lily. You won't be the same after this" was all she said before slinking back into her corner with the guy.

"Vous ne devriez pas être si dur sur elle, little sparrow." said the boy. You shouldn't be so harsh on her, little sparrow. It really freaked me out that I understood his French. I never spoke French. I spoke Italian.

Although Luella seemed to be Italian or Spanish as well, she appeared to also be able to speak French. She replied to him in a hushed voice.

I returned to the boy whose arms I awoke in. "What's your name?"

He flashed me a smile before stating, "Alexander Gaskarth, but I'd rather you called me Alex."

"Hey, Alex. I suppose you've already heard, I'm Lily." I said as I sat down next to him against the wall. "Do you really think we're in the . . . you know, future?"

"Well, I was kidnapped, went through some teleporter thing, and I ended up here. I got knocked out and I woke up knowing a mess of different languages. Danske, český, française, Deutsch, elliniká, russkiĭ, on and on. I know all of those, and it's strange."

Russian . . . I had always wanted to learn Russian. When I tried, it rolled off my tongue easily, fluently, perfectly. "Do you know why we're here?"

He replied in the same silky Russian. "No, all we know it's for some entertainment."

"Entertainment? Oh, dear god. What could that be . . . ?" My pulse picked up at the thought.

"It can't be that bad, I highly doubt that. Surely, even in a thousand years, that's still illegal. No, I think the government has us, or something of the sort." He replied, looking at me curiously.

"Yeah . . . but you can never be too sure, right?"

"Hey, sweetheart," I glanced up to see Luella talking to me, in English now.

"Yeah . . . ?" I asked.

"So far, what I think this place is for a show."

"What do you mean, a show?" I knotted my eyebrows together in thought.

"Like a reality show. They're going to use time travel, like how they got us here. We're going to be competing to kill as many of the historical figures that were assassinated through out history. We're going to become, in a sense, the assassins. That's why they programmed so many languages into us. We're going to need them to get allies for some of the missions, or, you know, blend in. Take into note you're going to need to fight, and they're going give us armor and attire for each setting."

"We're going to be killing people?" I stared at her incredulously.

"Yeah, this is why you, miss Lily, are going to lose your innocence. Understand? There's no way around it. I don't remember the prize, or anything like that. Or what happens to the losers, the team with the least amount of kills."

My head spun as she spoke. Killing? What was this, some twisted version of a video game? I felt like I wanted to throw up. If we were going to be sent back in time, how was I supposed to be able to wield a sword? A bow? Any weapon?

Alex put a hand on my shoulder, snapping me out of thought. I came to a realization. Alex was going to be my partner. This guy was going to be my partner as we traveled the world, and ages, killing people. Alexander, defender of men.

My eyes went back to Luella, and the boy. Luella was German for warrior or famous warrior. The boy, his name was Hunter, and well, you can imagine what that meant. Alex didn't seem like he would have much trouble going against them . . . if he had a better partner, that was.

How could these crazy people believe that me, Lily, an apparent "beauty" be strong enough to go against these guys? There was no way. I gave Alex an apologetic look. I felt so bad for the chance of me making him lose.

I didn't get much more time to think before a door in the wall that was practically invisible opened. Men in suits poured into the room, grabbing us and dragging us off to a training room.

As I looked at all of the weapons in the room, I had a feeling that Luella had been telling the truth.


	3. Training

Alex Gasgarth

Lily seemed to be panicking, naturally, I suppose. I mean, if I met someone who were to walk into a armory filled with weapons from all ages known to man, and not freak out, I'm sure I'd worry for them. Then again, that Luella girl loved the armory. She loved practicing with all the weapons, the hidden blades and the bow and arrows were her favorites. I assumed she was the first to arrive. I recalled her disappearance in the news. Hunter Chevalier was second, and the both of them formed the first pairing - the first team that would compete for whatever prize existed in the future.

I had been lonely, waiting for whatever partner they would dump in this place. It had been three lonely days. Luella would chat, but she would mostly talk to Hunter, like they were old family friends or something. They had some connection, and it was impossible to describe. But after those three lonely days, they tossed Lily's body into the room. They had already adjusted her mind, that much I knew. She began sputtering out jumbled up languages in her sleep, before sobbing throughout her dreams about her mother or about how scared she had been. Naturally, I felt the need to protect her, and I rocked her as she slept. Lily had startled me when she awoke - I hadn't expected it to happen so fast. She instantly demanded where she was and who had taken her. Luella, acting rashly and almost heartlessly, bluntly told her about the future. I had feared for a moment that Lily would have a breakdown, but she just laughed. It did finally hit her though, like it hit all of us.

We weren't going back home . . . at least, not just yet.

I stood by my partner's side as Luella and Hunter gravitated towards the blades to start their sparing. Luella had just about remembered all of the fatal killing blows, Hunter was right up there with her. It dawned on me that I would have to start training Lily, if I could get her out of her daze. It shocked me, though, when she turned to me and shyly said, "Shall we get started . . . ?"

I nodded slightly and pulled her to the other side of the room. I watched as she hesitantly grabbed one of the swords from the racks. It was a simple cutlass, the grip laced with silver. I picked out a matching cutlass and held mine in a battle stance as she balanced it in her petite hands. While I waited for her to ready herself, I admired her features. She had auburn hair that fell in perfect waves around her pretty face. She looked up at me with sparkling grey eyes as she tried to match my stance. I smiled at her reassuringly, urging her on with my eyes.

I saw courage rise in her as she lunged at me with surprising speed, but due to my practice, I deflected her easily, jumping back before locking blades with her. It was almost as if fighting came naturally to her, and she did it beautifully. She twirled, stepped, and dodged before bringing her own blade to strike mine. I could feel the world fade away as we melted into our dance of death. She caught me in her gaze, distracting me for a moment, only to realize that a split second later, I was on the floor.

She dropped her sword and covered her mouth with her hands. "I'm so sorry." She blushed as she pulled me to my feet. "Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I? I swear I didn't mean to, it was an accident."

"It's fine, Lily. You're a good fighter." I said as I picked her sword up for her, holding it out with a playful bow.

"I don't know how I did it . . . " she said, looking away towards Luella and Hunter.

I followed her gaze, watching Luella gracefully counter Hunter's attack's on her with her hidden blade, bringing her boot around into his side. Hunter brought his knife up into her body, but she leaped, her body flipping sideways in a handless cartwheel as she avoided his attack. Hunter, thinking quickly brought his leg around, causing Luella to fall over, stumbling atop Hunter. Luella actually giggled before jumping to her feet again, nudging Hunter with her foot.

I watch as Lily's face contorted in doubt, doubt in herself.

"Don't compare yourself to them." I said, more of an order. "They've been practicing for longer than you have, Luella used to do gymnastics and she plays way too many video games so she knows way more fighting moves than a normal teenage girl. Hunter's father was a military sergeant, so he treated his son like a private." I explained.

"I play video games too . . . but I can't do any of that."

"Luella's the more observant type of person. She loves mimicking things, so that's where she gets her skill."

Lily shrugged before whirling on me with her sword. I deflected one of her lunges.

"Try to counter one of my attacks, Lily." I said.

With a quick nod from her, I moved to attack her. She side-stepped, bringing her blade up, and inch from where my nose was, into my own blade. The force caused my blade to be knocked back, out of my hand and over my head. I was almost sure it had lodged itself in the armory floor, but I was too busy falling forward, as Lily brought her blade down, stopping within millimeters of my back. She pressed down her blade to show me where she had aimed. For the killing blow.

"Perfect," I smiled at her as I got up. "You're a natural."

"I don't understand how." Worry creased in Lily's features.

"It's buried deep within you, Lily. It's why they chose each and every one of us. We're special, you can say."

"When do the games start . . . ?"

"Extermination, I believe is what the game is called. If I'm correct, they start in a week," came Luella's voice before I could reply. She walked up with a sway of her hips as she relaxed back against a wall.

"Why are you so calm about this?" The words slipped from my mouth before I could stop them.

"There really isn't a way to escape this blasted place, and unless you want to go against futuristic guards with god knows what type of weapons they have, then be my guest, Alex." She leaned in real close to me. "Don't think for a second I truly want to be here, but we may as well cooperate before they do us off." She flicked her wrist and her hidden blade came shooting out from its sheath. She drew it close to her throat, and slid it along her skin. I could tell the cool blade pressed itself against her skin, but it didn't harm her. "I would love to see my mother back in Asheville, but even if we do escape, do you really think they're going to let us use their time travel machine or whatever? It's not like any of us are Doctor Who, and we'll easily know how to use said equipment." She sighed as Hunter drew her back.

"Sorry." I mumbled.

"Don't be." She muttered under her breath as she turned back around to go back to her practice.

I glanced at Lily, who just gave me a what-can-you-do shrug.


	4. Preparation

Hunter Chevalier

By the end of a three hour practice session, I was dripping with sweat and panting hard. I was gripping my stomach and doubling over. Luella gave me a quick smack to the side, "Don't quit moving, aquila." she said, using the Italian form of eagle.

I stood and walked slowly around the training room. She was right, at least. If I had stopped all of my movement now, my body would probably go into shock. I didn't need that; it would just push back our training. Every once in a while I would look up at Lily and watch her. She was a good fighter. To be honest, we all had been good fighters, even if we hadn't picked up a weapon before. Lily was, different, than Luella. Lily seemed to be more fragile and breakable, so it shocked us when we found out that she could hold her own with a sword. Luella was more of a fierce Amazon warrior, where as Lily reminded me more of Joan of Arc.

Alex was one of those guys that all the girls seemed to like. He had natural good looks that all the girls gravitated to. To me, he seemed bland. Brown hair, brown eyes. But there he was. It shocked me, though, when Luella instantly befriended me. Then again, I was the only person she had seen in days, but usually girls were like that, until another guy came into the picture. I was pretty much shocked that Luella hadn't run off with Alex. She had been polite with him, but she remained at my side most of the day, chatting with me in French or Italian.

Luella was a pretty stunning girl though, during our first practice, I remember watching her tie up her long blond hair, and entering a battle ready stance. Her entrancing green eyes studied my moves curiously. She took in all of her surroundings before pouncing like a graceful leopard. She still seemed to be the better fighter, even though I hid behind a wall of cocky attitude and pride, but at least now I was more skilled. One of the more intriguing things about Luella was that she loved working with hidden blades. It was the first thing she'd run for in the armory. She'd slide on the leather gauntlet and get right to work. They were an interesting weapon. With a flick of the wrist, your enemy could be dead.

"Hey, Hunter," Luella snapped her finger in front of my face.

I glared at her, "Don't snap at me." I ordered.

"You went all dazed while staring at me, I got a little freaked out." she wiggled her fingers at me as she said the word "dazed", and then shrugged as she finished off her sentence.

That was another habit of Luella; she made the most ridiculously dramatic hand gestures I had ever seen. She always used wide, sweeping hand movements for exaggeration to her stories. I always called her a weirdo for doing it but I secretly kind of liked it. Not many girls did that. One time, though, she really scared me to death. Luella had been talking with Alex next to her and she went for one of her hand gestures, and accidentally summoned her hidden blade. I recall Alex freaking out and dropping down to the floor, landing on his bottom, but after Luella apologized countless times, she couldn't stop laughing.

"I wasn't staring, I was examining you" was all I said.

"Sure . . . Let's call it examining. Your eyes were all bugging out, man. Really freaky. I was pretty worried my partner was going to be some lunatic." She giggled and looked back at me, her ponytail whipping around her body.

As I walked, she walked backwards, not paying attention to what was behind her. Somehow, though, she expected the men in suits to come through the door and grab a hold of her. With her arms locked behind her back, they led her away before grabbing me. I watched as two other men went for Alex and Lily.

The men led us to a plain white room. It kind of reminded me of the original room we were forced to stay in. It wasn't even just white; it was a bright pulsing white. There was a man sitting in a chair examining us. He was gray and wrinkled. He looked like he was in his seventies, but he stared at us curiously as he drummed his fingers on a table. "These are the kids?" He asked.

The man holding Luella nodded.

"Hmm . . . you're going to have to dye the boys hair a natural color, but other than that, they're fine." He sighed. "As you children may or may not know you will be sent through this time travel machine." he said, gesturing towards the machine to his right. "You will be battling to kill thirty historic leaders. Fifteen each. You will be scored on precision, likeness to the original kill, and detection. Three points for each kill. If you get detected, you will lose one point. You need to be able to frame the original man, or, who we thought was the original man."

I stared at the man. This whole concept was crazy, and stupid, to say the least. How could we possibly get this right?

"Wait," I spoke up. "You said fifteen kills. What's the tie breaker?"

A wicked grin spread across the man's lips. "A kill that will remain a secret until ready. A kill that none of you have experienced."

That means . . .

"You want us to kill a guy that has been assassinated in the future?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I want." He smiled, almost as if he was pleased with himself. "Oh, do not fret, you'll be perfectly fine. You'll know all you need to know about him or her."

Crap, I was kind of hoping he'd at least slip up on the gender.

I looked over at Luella who looked pale as a ghost. It was shocking, she had remained so calm and cool up until now. She looked like all she wanted to do was curl up and cry. She took a deep breath and put her walls back up, taking a second to compose herself.

"How long until we begin?" She asked.

"We begin tomorrow." The man said.

That caused an outburst. Not only from us, but from some of the people who had been standing off to the side.

"Lily just got here. She's had one day of training. Versus Luella's ten days." Alex snapped at the man.

The man locked eyes with Lily, and I knew she was trying not to look away.

"She'll be fine. She's stronger than you think, young ones."

* * *

><p>He hadn't been kidding when he said we'd be starting the next day. I had been sleeping in my own bed when the clock struck six. I hadn't even remembered setting the alarm, but it rang. In came eight of the guys in suits. They yanked us out of bed and took us to a room. They stripped us down to absolutely nothing and made us wear armor.<p>

Looking over at Luella, I noticed she wore a robe that flowed to the floor. Her white gown was laced with gold, and her hair was pinned up in a bun, a few strands of hair falling in curls. She wore daggers on a thigh hilt, and she kept a gauntlet with her hidden blade.

I had a similar appearance to Luella, except they had put me in an armor chest piece adorned with a toga as well.

Alex and Lily were also wearing variations of togas. The faded white cloth wrapping around their bodies perfectly and there were daggers tucked into their sandals. Lily had a wreath in her auburn hair, and Alex had been stripped of his streaks.

"Ah, I see they're ready." The man walked in. "Lily and Alexander will be going to the 10th of June, about 323 BC, to kill Alexander the Great."

I heard Lily's breath catch.

"You see, they say he died of alcohol poisoning, but, I'm allowing you an easy task for your first kill. You are going to slip this poison into his drink that he will toast in honour of Hercules." He slipped Alex a vial. I saw Alex gulp as he took it carefully.

The man turned to us.

"Ah, Miss Luella and Mister Hunter. I want you two to lead the assassination of Julius Caesar. March 15th on the Roman calendar, year 44 BC, was the day. Lead the attack, find the dictator and murder him. Simple enough, correct?"

And with that, he left, and we were pushed in through the machine.


	5. Julius Caesar

Luella de Ariete

I found it tremendously difficult to walk in a toga, gown, what ever it was called. I was gripping Hunter's arm to no avail because I was terrified of falling. The scientists were sending Hunter and I through the time machine first. Okay, so I had already been in the thing, but the idea of going through it lucid was terrifying. I clung to Hunter like a child as we stepped into the machine, it was white, no surprise there.

As the machine began to warm up, I was uncomfortable beyond belief. I kept shifting. The sandals felt like I was walking in dry hay, and the gown was itchy. It was bothersome.

"Just close your eyes and relax, kids. It'll be over in a moment."

I waited; I hadn't closed my eyes until I was forced to by a blinding white light. I buried my face against Hunter's shoulder, and he put an arm around me. Faintly, I felt him nuzzle his cheek against my hair, but the next thing I knew, the cold air conditioned air shifted to a hot almost humid outdoors draft. I stumbled, only to be greeted by the crunch of soil beneath my feet. I turned to Hunter, only to be met by a stunned look that mirrored my own. As I turned in my spot, I examined my area quickly. We were . . . we were in ancient Rome. _Rome_, the infamous _Rome, Italy. _It was hard to believe, you can imagine.

"Hunter . . ." I turned to him again, "We're in Rome, that's the Theatre of Pompey." I let the Greek words spill from my lips as I pointed out the building.

"I know, little sparrow." was all he said.

I started jogging towards the theatre, not stopping until Hunter grabbed me and yanked me back. "Stay calm, we have to blend in, Luella. Remember that." His grip on my arm was ruthless. I looked up and his amber eyes flashed. My breath caught for a moment and I cringed.

"I'm sorry. I got a little excited, that's all." I said as I began to stroll into the theatre.

I could feel my heart racing as I took in my surroundings. The marble columns, the grand steps, the sheer mass of the buildings were astonishing, breathtakingly beautiful. It was nothing compared to what you got back in my time. It just wasn't the same as modern age, which was for sure.

When Hunter realized I was lagging behind, though, he grabbed my wrist and tugged me along. I stumbled along the pavement as we entered the theatre. There were native trees growing off to the side. I noticed statues, some of Hercules, I recall, and a few of some of the gods.

We pushed through a crowd, moving amongst the people as if we were ghosts, or even, apart of them, as if we'd always been. It was odd, brushing skin with people who lived thousands of years before you. Everyone looked so utterly flawless and perfect, as if they'd all been crafted out of marble themselves. Perfection and beauty in the shape of these human beings, and it caused me to feel a little self conscious. I suppose Hunter suspected my shift in my confidence because he turned my face to his for a moment and gave me a reassuring look. I fidgeted momentarily before giving him a sharp nod.

I turned my head and for a moment, I locked eyes with an older gentleman, walking towards the inside of the theatre. He stared at me curiously, before raking his eyes over my body and adverting his eyes to Hunter.

"Hunter," I breathed as I nudged him slightly. "That's Julius."

"I know." He said as he turned, pulling me along with him, following Caesar and his crowd. We walked until he stopped in front of the theatre.

I watched as Tillius Cimber spoke to Julius. He seemed to be bringing up a topic that bothered Caesar, but he waved Cimber off. By the look that crossed the man's face, it really pissed him off. Cimber shoved him, pulling at Julius's tunic.

"What is the meaning of this violence?" Julius Caesar bellowed in Greek.

We pushed closer just as Servilius Casca produced a dagger, lunging for Caesar's neck. He shocked me with quick reflexes, catching Casca's arm with his hand.

In Latin, he growled, "Casca, you villain. What are you doing?"

Hunter and I were at the front of the group as Casca turned to yell in Greek, "Help, brothers!" in a frightened tone.

Aggravated, I snatched up the dagger in my sandal in a quick reaction. Before anyone else could get a killing blow, I buried the blade deep within Julius's skin. The dagger digging deep down into his heart. Hunter stepped forward and buried his own blade into Caesar's back as the infamous man fell forward. As Hunter and I stepped back, I watched in horror as the scene unfolded like it was straight out of a gory movie. The members of the senate viciously stabbed the dictator over and over.

_Twenty-three times_. The man was stabbed twenty-three times. There were over sixty people, so as they group began to suddenly disperse, Hunter and I ran, blending in with the crowd again, trying to get as far away from the city as possible. I felt sick to my stomach as soon as we made it to the main road of the city. Hunter placed his palm on my back as I began to retch. It was only a matter of seconds before the contents of my stomach were missing. I wobbled away, a few more feet before I fell to my knees.

"Stabbing at dummies is much easier, isn't it?"

"I miss video games." I groaned. "Watching aliens die is _so_ much more fun." I managed a smile.

Hunter rubbed the small of my back as I stood up. The world around us began to morph and dissolve, and I was met with that same old blinding white light I had grown to despise. Instantly, I clung to Hunter again. Only to be met by scientists and the creepy old dude in the white laboratory. Seriously, these guys needed more color in their palette.

"Well done! Julius never even knew what hit him! And you kids got away unnoticed. Perfect." He cooed, and it made me want to punch him. "We got it all on film."

"How?" Hunter's eyebrows rose.

"Do not question us, child. Get back to your rooms." He ordered, and with that, we were escorted out.

I entered Hunter's room and sat on his bed, he stared at me with his amber eyes curiously.

"One down, fourteen to go." I mumbled quietly.

"Yeah . . ." he looked off to the side.

Awkwardly, I was still in the gown, and I left to go change quickly. Once I returned, I noticed Hunter's earphones hanging out of his pockets.

"Can I . . . may I listen, aquila?" I asked, looking up at him. His tall frame had always made me feel a bit on the short side.

"Sure." He said, handing me a bud as he turned it on. I was greeted by the intro of Let It Bleed by The Used. I looked at him with a look of curiosity. I knew the song, but I supposed I should have expected it. He wasn't the type to like punk or anything. Classic rock and hard rock if anything. I moved to lie on my back as I listened to the song pumping through the headphones.

I shut my eyes, singing softly, trying not to laugh, "You might wanna sing, haha, you might wanna sing, haha, sing." I couldn't help but giggle and glance at Hunter.

He was chuckling slightly, "You're a weirdo, little sparrow."

"I know, aquila."


	6. Alexander the Great

Lily Burnham

The air was dry, and extremely hot, then again, it was to be expected on June 10th. As I looked around, I realized how massive Babylon was. It was such a gorgeous city though. The air wasn't so bad after a while, every once in a while we'd get a nice breeze off of the Tigris River, and the scenery was greener than you'd expect in the middle of a desert. The mud bricks of the buildings managed to give the area a magnificent look to the area.

As we looked around, I realized my toga would need to be longer, and I would need to manage to make a hood. We disappeared into an alley way between buildings, and I unwrapped myself while Alex stood guard. I gave him credit, even though he would be a killer in just a few hours, he didn't peak. I fixed the aged cloth around my body so that it was now a gown that went to my feet, and then I proceeded to wrap it around my hair. I'll admit, it was hot, but we needed to fit in.

"Do you have the poison?" I murmured to Alex in Russian, to make sure no one would hear us.

"I have it, Lily." He replied, walking behind me, more as a guard then as a partner.

As I looked up at the sky, I could see the sun setting, even though the heat was beating down on us.

We weaved through the market. The colorful arrangement of merchandise was exquisite. It wasn't like any mall I'd ever been to. It was so different, and exciting. There were foods, different cloths and baskets. Animals for sale, and there were little trinkets, as well as jewelry. I stopped in my tracks when I saw something shimmer in my peripheral. I looked down and quickly picked up the golden coin.

"You're lucky, miss." Someone said in Greek, one of the merchants.

I shrugged slightly and turned to him. The merchant was a tailor and sold dyed clothing. There was a dark blue one on the wall, and the merchant spotted the chance to make a sale.

"I'll give you this beautifully crafted wrap for one coin, miss." He smiled at me, revealing a few missing teeth.

"Lily, I don't think we're allowed to do that . . ." Alex murmured in my ear.

With a shrug, I put the coin on the table. The man handed over the blue cloth which was big enough to be wrapped around my body. Instead of tucking it into the white robe, for accents, I wrapped it around in a sash.

Alex shrugged as he looked at me before walking away, hurriedly, I walked after him.

Slowly, we made our way to the excitement of the city. I heard music and followed it to where there were men dancing and drinking as the sun dipped behind the horizon. The music was interesting, foreign and historic, but it had a catchy up beat rhythm to it and I didn't exactly recognized the instrument used.

Alex put a hand on the small of my back and pushed me along, making sure I stayed close to him.

We pushed through the throng of people, the dancers and the drunken fighters.

We attempted at making it look like we were fellow partiers, just trying to have a ball. But we had to keep moving. As the sun went away, and the moon began to rise, the torches were lit and we were running out of time. We neared our target, Alexander the Great. He was so young looking, and handsome. I could understand why he had so many women around him. I held my breath as Alex casually slipped by him, dropping the liquid poison into Alexander's cup. Alex took his place by me.

Alexander the Great stood, raising his cup of whatever alcoholic substance it contained. "Let us toast to Hercules."

We raised our own mugs, cheering along to blend into the scenery.  
>And with that, Alexander chugged his drink down, consuming the alcohol laced with poison. I couldn't help but think how long it would take the poison to lace his body. Kill him off . . .<p>

Before I could think, Alex pulled me away. Leading me away from the crowd, towards the boundaries of Babylon. I felt a cool breeze hit my body, and I moved away from Alex to re-wrap the toga so that it was shorter, cooler.

When I was done, I felt Alex put his hand on my shoulder. I know it felt like an internal battle was raging somewhere inside me, so I could imagine what I looked like right now. Without thinking, I turned towards Alex and buried my face against him chest. Sobs racked my body as he stroked my hair softly.

I hoped I wouldn't do this every time we killed someone, otherwise I'd feel like such a weakling.

Before I could realize what was happening. We were back in the time machine, the door of the contraption opening up to expose the lab. I stared at the old creep. His lips spread into a smile as he looked at us.

"I see you had a little fun in Babylon, Lily." His eyes stopped at the dyed cloth around my waist.

"You never said it was against the rules to do such things, besides, it didn't change the time line, now did it?" was I said.

He grin widened. The man truly did creep me out.

"Point for your team, you kids are tied. Unless you mess up one of your kills, than you will be most likely tied for most of the game, you never know, I might issue a different type of challenge . . ." his grin turned into a smirk.

I shrugged and turned to leave. I headed back towards the room we were staying in. I just killed Alexander the Great. Julius Caesar was dead because of Hunter and Luella. Dear god, we'd be murdering history's most infamous people.

As soon as I made it through the door, and Alex stepped through, I closed it and sunk down to the floor. I just stared blankly at the floor while Alex sat down next to me. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close.

"It's going to be okay, Lily." He murmured softly.

I shook my head before standing up and heading towards my own separate room. "Wake me up when the next challenge is ready to begin." Was all I said, and I had too many things on my mind to worry about Alex's hurt expression. He was such a sweet kid, but I just couldn't. Not now, not after that.

"Goodnight, Alex." Were my last words.


End file.
